Electric iron



A. WEILAND Sept. 4, 1951 ELECTRIC IRO 2 sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 5, 1948 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY- .Q A EV Q 7 R Sept. 4, 1951 E. A. WEILAND 2,567,133

ELECTRIC IRON Filed July 5, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet z INVENTOR, E 'd A. Meg i ATTORNEY,

4 9 Q/ll/ll/ll/ Patented Sept. 4, 1951 IYUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ELECTRIC IRON Edward A. Welland, Garfield Heights, Ohio, as-

signor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application July 3, 1948, Serial No. 37,010

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to electrically heated smoothing irons and more particularly to a means for indicating to the operator when the iron is at the proper temperature for ironing various fabrics.

More particularly according to this invention, a manually adjustable control is provided for setting the thermostatic switch at the roper po- 'sition to maintain the sole plate at the proper temperature for ironing various fabrics. The control dial has suitable indicia thereon, such as the words rayon, silk, cotton, wool, and "linen," which indicia Will line up with a fixed pointer when the control thermostat is set at the proper temperature for ironing a particular fabric. A second dial is rotatably mounted beneath the control dial. The second dial also carries lndicia, such as "R, S, C, W, and "L, which indicia is visible over the edge of the control dial. The second dial is connected by suitable means to a thermostat responsive to sole plate temperature so that the indicia on the second dial will be lined up with the corresponding indicia on the control dial and with the fixed pointer when the sole plate is at the proper ironing temperature. The background upon which the indicia appears should be of a different color for each fabric. Thus, when the same colors line up with the fixed pointer, the operator will be informed that the iron is at the proper temperature for ironing the fabric for which the control is set.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a side view of an iron incorporating this invention with the parts broken away to show the details of the control and indicating means; V

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1 and showing the relative position of the dials when the control is set at the proper position for ironing silk;

Figure 3 is a view showing the position of the dials when the control is set at the proper position for ironing linen; and

Figure 4 is a detail view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. l. l I

Referring to the drawings the reference numetal represents a. sole plate heated by any suitable electrical heater i l embeddedthereln. Attached to the sole plate ID in any suitable manner is a cover shell l2. Attached to the cover shell I! in any suitable manner are the legs i3 and ll of a handle. I5.

Positioned between the legs l3 and H and covering a substantial area of the cover shell l2 not covered by the legs is an indicator dial IS. The indicator dial it is rotatably mounted about the hub of a control dial ll, rigidly secured to the upper end of a control shaft [8, the lower end of iii) which is screw threaded into a nut 19 suitably supported by a post 20 rigidly attached to the sole plate III. A member 2| is press fitted about the shaft l8 and carries a stop lug 22 which coopcrates with a stop lug 23 carried by the nut I9 to limit rotation of the shaft i8 to less than a complete revolution.

The lower end of shaft [8 extends through an opening in a spring arm 24 carried by the post 20 and into contact with a second spring arm 25 also carried by the post 20. The'free ends of the arms 24 and 25 carry electrical contacts 26 and 2! which are connected in series with the electrical heater H while the fixed ends thereof are insulated from each other as shown. A bimetallic thermostat 28 is also"car ried by the post 20 and is insulated from the arms 24 and 25. As shown, the thermostat 28 is positioned closely adjacent a protuberance of the sole plate [0 so as to be responsive to the sole plate temperature and is constructed to bow upwardly as the sole plate is heated. The thermostat 28 carries a knob 28 of insulating material adapted to engage the extended end of the spring arm 24 as will be explained hereinafter.

The indicator dial It is drivingly connected to a gear wheel 30 rotatably mounted about the member 2| surrounding the shaft 18, so as to be positioned beneath the cover shell 12. Gear wheel 30 meshes with a second gear wheel 3| drivingly connected to a shaft 32 rotatably mounted on'post 29 by the brackets 33. The lower end of shaft 32 is bent rearwardly at 34 and enters an opening in a lug 35 extending upwardly from one end of a spiral bimetal element 38 the opposite end of which is anchored to the sole plate It) by a post 37. It is to be noted that the bimetallic element 36 is positioned against the sole plate I in a recess therein so as to closely respond to sole plate temperature, Y

An annular leaspring 38 is secured to the cover shell I: about the hub of the indicating dial P6 to hold it upwardly against the control dial I1 and to hold it against tilting movement.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, a pointer 39 is positioned on the front handle leg l3 immediately forward of the edge of the indicator dial it. The indicatordlal I6 is larger than the control dial I1 and its extended edge is marked with the indicia L, W, C, S, and R'." The forward edge of control dial I1 is marked with the indicia linen, W001, (:OttOn," silk," and. la-yon? to indicate the proper setting of the control for ironing those fabrics. The indicia L etc, on the indicating dial indicates Whether the iron is at the proper temperature for ironing linen, wool, cotton, silk, or rayon. The background upon which the indicia of the dial is placed is preferably of different colors for different fabrics, the color representing the same fabric being the same on each dial. For exthe pointer 39.

Operation When the iron is cold the indicating dial [6" will be rotated clockwise, as viewedin Fig, 2

to its maximum extent and the control dial I1.

will be rotated counter-clockwise with the indicia v off opposite the pointer 39.

Suppose it is desired to iron sink,'the handle 40 of the control dial I! will be grasped and the dial rotated clockwise until the indicia silk is .opposite the pointer "39. This will energize the heating element H and the sole plate ill will begin to rise in temperature causing the spiral bimetal 36 to be heated. The bimetal 36 will expand and move the .lug 35 clockwise as viewed in Fig. 4, causinggears ,3! and. 30 to be rotated in the direction indicated by the arrows of Fig. 4. Since the indicating dial it is drivingly-connected to thegear 30 it. will be rotated counterclockwise as viewed in Fig. 2. temperature of the sole plate l approaches the proper'ironing. temperature for silk the indicia SYon the dial 16 will approach a pointer 39 and. the indicia silk on the control dial l'l.

When the indicia S lines up with the. indicia back and forth to alternately open and close As the the contacts 26 and 21 so as to maintain the sole plate H) at the proper silk ironing temperature and the indicia -S will remain aligned with the indicia silk and the pointer 39.

Now if it is desired to iron linen the control dial will be rotated clockwise to the position shown inFig. 3 with the indicia linen opposite This will move the lower end of the control shaft [8 upwardly to permit the spring arm 25 to follow it. .The control thermostat 28 will then have to be heated more before it can open the contacts 26 and 21 which will result in a rise in temperature of the soleplate M1. The spiral bimetal 36 will also rise, in temperature and further expand to rotate the indicating dial Hi to the position-shown in Fig. 3

- with the indicia L in alignment with the indicia "linen and the pointer 39. The control thermostat 28 will then again operate to alternately open and close the contacts 26 and 2"! to maintain' the sole plate 10 at the proper linen ironing temperature and the indicia L' will remain in alignment with the indicia "linen and the pointer 39 with the white background of dials l6 "and I! in alignment.

Now suppose it is desired to iron rayon. The

shaft I8 will move the spring arm 25 downwardly to separate the contacts 26 and 2'! and the sole plate III will cool 01f until the control thermostat 28 flexes downwardly sufficiently to cause the contacts 26 and 21 to reclose. This will cause the spiral bimetal 38 to cool off and contract so a to rotate the indicating dial l6 clockwise as viewed in Fig. 3 until the indicia R moves into alignment with the indicia rayon and the pointer 39 which will inform the operator that it is now safe to begin ironing rayon.

From the foregoing it can be seen that this invention provides .asimple control for an electrically heated pressing iron which continuously indicates to the operator whether or not the iron is at the proper temperature for ironing any particular fabric.

While I have shown but a single modification of my invention it is to be understood that this embodiment is to be taken as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense. I do not wish to be limited to the specific structure shown and described but to include all equivalent variations thereof except as limited by the scope of the claims. I

I claim:

1. An electrically heated pressing iron comprising, a sole plate, a cover shell secured to said sole plate, a handle having front and rear legs carried by said cover shell, an electric heater positioned for heating said sole plate, a thermostat for controlling the temperature of said sole plate, a rotatable control shaft carried by said sole plate for adjusting the temperature setting of said thermostat, said shaft extending upwardly through said cover shell between the legs of said handle, a control dial secured to the upper end of said shaft, an indicating pointer carried by the front leg of said handle, indicia carried by said control dial adapted to be brought into alignment with said pointer to indicate the proper setting of said shaft for maintaining said sole plate at the proper temperature for ironing various fabrics, an indicating dial rotatably mounted about said shaft beneath said control dial, said indicating dial extending beyond the edge of said control dial and covering substantially the entire area of said cover shell not covered by the legs of said handle, indicia carried by the extended portion of said indicating dial corresponding to the indicia carried. by said control dial, a second thermostat positioned to respond to the temperature of said sole plate and means actuated by movement of said second thermostat for rotating said indicating dial to bring the like indicia of said dials into alignment with said pointer when the temperature of said sole plate corresponds to the temperature indicated by the setting of said control dial.

"2. A pressing iron according to claim 1 including a spring means acting between said cover shell and indicating dial for holding said indicating dial against said control dial so as to prevent tilting'movement of said indicating dial.

EDWARD A. WEILAND.

REFERENCES CITED Th e following references are of record in the file of this patent: I

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,930,062 Rutenber Oct. 10, 1933 1,976,854 Mayer Oct. 16, 1934 "2,208,482 Samuels July 16, 1940 2,235,891 Kuhn et al. Mar. 25, 1941 2,409,420 Clark Oct. 15, 1946 2,439,795 Clark Apr. 20, 1948 2,439,825 Sparklin Apr. 20, 1948 

